Open Thread: 2011 Home Run Derby

Is it home run or homerun? I’ve always preferred one word, but the official site and Wikipedia say I’m wrong. Oh well. Anyway, tonight is the night of the most simultaneously boring and entertaining event in baseball, the Home Run Homerun Derby. The first two or three batters are fun, then it just starts to drag. MLB changed things up this year by appointing team captains (Prince Fielder and David Ortiz, the last two winners) and letting them pick the participants, though that didn’t do too much. I know he’s having an awful year, but it’s criminal that Adam Dunn still has not taken his hacks in the Derby yet. Mike Stanton’s another guy that should have been picked as well, just look at what the kid can do. His MLB.com highlight pages are pure homerun porn. Oh well.

The Yankees have one of their own in the Derby, second baseman Robinson Cano. Mark Teixeira was originally asked to participate, but he decided against it when he didn’t get selected for the game. Can’t say I blame him, I’d rather spend the time off with my family than fly out for the one event. Cano’s father Jose (a former big leaguer) will pitch to him, which would be pretty cool. Here are the participants, though I have no what order they’re hitting in…

American League
Jose Bautista
Robinson Cano
Adrian Gonzalez
David Ortiz

StatCorner says Chase Field is basically a neutral homerun park for right-handed batters (102 HR pack factor) and very favorable for lefties (114), but you know what? I’m going against that and am picking Holliday. It’s not about how far you hit the ball but how many you hit out, and we’ve seen so many players tire in the later rounds over the last few years. Holliday’s so absurdly big and strong that I think he’ll hold up the best during the course of the competition. Plus having the experience from last year, when he hit just five homers, will probably help.

Anyway, that’s my pick. The Derby starts at 8pm ET and can be seen on ESPN and ESPN3.com. You can talk about that or whatever else your heart desires here in the open thread, so have at it. Anything goes.

I’m just glad to have baseball back. I came by last night around 3am and the place had turned into a Subway blog. I read at least 3/4 of an article about weekend ridership levels before realizing it was never going to tie back to the Yankees.

Yeah, but the NL team is 3/4ths black, so they’re not “real Americans”.

Matt Holliday is the only player in this contest who really plays the game the right way.

YankeesJunkie

Exactly! I would not be surprised if Fielder, Kemp, and Weeks get arrested for a drive by while Adrian gets deported for selling dope to the kids on the corner plus decapitating a few drug dealer’s heads.

Esteban

I dunno about that, but he’s the only gritty, blue collar, hard working, guy that hustles too.

YankeesJunkie

Better than that lazy Cano!

Phife Dawg

The NL and Al should just get rid of all the current participants and have David Eckstein come out of retirement to hit HRs for the NL and side and Dustin Pedroia for the AL side. The grittiest session of glamorized BP ever.

BigTimeBartolo

Man the crowd is pretty quiet, make some damn noise haha

Freddy Garcia’s 86 mph Heat

It’s Arizona.

Rainbow Connection

Please stop trying to pretend these dumb players have personalities.
Just have the idiots start hitting balls right away.

Not at all what you would expect from a guy belting homers like its going out of style.

Phife Dawg

He doesn’t have as strong of an accent compared to Ortiz or Cano.

Kiko Jones

From what I’ve been told by a buddy of mine who used to play w/him back in the Dominican, Bautista grew up in a very upper middle class environment in Santo Domingo, amongst a big chunk of folks who speak English.

That smile, it’s infectious. He just loves baseball and loves his teammates. He’s the best teammate ever.

All those things we told you about Wade Boggs, Roger Clemens, Mo Vaughn, Nomar Garciaparra, Pedro Martinez, and Manny Ramirez, all that stuff was bullshit. With Big Papi, we mean it this time, he’s totally awesome.

Sincerely,
The MSM

IRF

“He’s God Alvy. That man is God.”

Guest

Mo Vaughn is a good dude. He’s done a lot of great work in really poor communities that need it up and down the east coast. He’s gone and beyond what most athletes do (though he has done much of his work since he retired and had more free time).

I’m not saying that you were necessarily doing this TSJC, but I personally won’t look at connection to PEDs (HGH in Vaughn’s case) as being dispositive of character. Andy Pettite still strikes me as salt of the earth, and he even lied about his PED usage. Especially given their prevalence in the era in which Vaughn (likely) did them, I’ll say the being beloved by teammates and the exceptional community service far outweighs making the same mistakes (almost) everybody else was making with PEDS.

I’m totally just goofing on the Boston media’s penchant for pretending that those guys were the best guys ever while they were Red Sox and then instantly horrible baby-raping clubhouse cancers who are all that is wrong with baseball the second they leave Boston.

FACT: David Ortiz is the only player in baseball history to have kids. He loves them more than life itself, and is the greatest father ever. All other players in baseball hate children and would cross the street to punch a baby in the face.

I wish McCutchen had said, “I used to look up to Big Papi, but then he refused to admit his positive test and bitches and moans about any pitch inside, following it by swinging at 3-0 pitches in 7 run games and then charging the mound while running to first. Frankly he’s sort of a bitch whose just good at making the media like him because he smiles a lot and says everyone is his boy.”

http://www.CarlsYankeeDugout.com Carl

After being so dominant last year in Anaheim, how disappointing was that? Gonna have to settle it with Matty if Fielder gets a lot more than the last 5 combined.

Matt Holliday looks so sad. It’s because he cares about baseball so much and he knows that these disrespectful clowns are just going to tarnish the game with their backward hats and showboating now that he’s been eliminated.

I think in some countries (Russia is one I know) it’s being released as “The First Avenger” and not Captain America.

Graig not Craig

Did you see the kid in the Detroit jersey with Granderson on th back? Throwback jersey. Time to update, dude.

Graig not Craig

They need to spread this over 2 nights. Make it a miniseries.

Brandon

The sad part is that if we would be going by length, Cano would be murdering the field. Gonzalez had alot of homers below 400 all night. Cano has only had 2 so far. I hope Cano has enough left. But if he doesnt, at least we can all take comfort in knowing that Cano had 2 cheapies in 20 HR’s and more than half of Gonzalez’s 31 homers were cheapies

Skip

That is a beautiful swing by Robbie – it’s not a harsh uppercut, just a nice level swing when he has it working…you see the uppercut when he tries to hard to get it out of the park.

Wow hopefully this is a sign of things to come for the yankees and cano!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

http://johnsterling.blogspot.com/ Xstar7

These last 4 days have made me very happy to be a Yankees fan.

Foghorn Leghorn

indeed!

Freddy Garcia’s 86 mph Heat

Robbie wins it with his dad. Sweetness.

dkidd

yo, adrian!

he did it!!!

mbonzo

I bet everyone at work that Cano would win. Can’t wait for all the cool stuff I get now. Watching him hit BP all year there was little doubt in him. Agon did such a great job though, he scared the crap outta me.

Jimmy McNulty

So, they’re not going to let him spend more of State Farm’s money?

Alfredo

i think he hit the furthest homerun he hit one into right center that was out of reach of every fan it hit the combo sign in right center.

Brandon

Robinson Cano: 32 home runs
Adrian Gonzalez: 31 home runs

Robinson Cano: 30 home runs over 400 feet
Adrian Gonzalez: Maybe 15 home runs over 400 feet and that is being generous

The man who should have won it won. All is right tonight. Cano KILLED it!

Esteban

More pool shots!

Mykey

Man, Robby killed a lot of rallies tonight.

first time lawng time

Lol there are two Santa Clauses here tonight!

Black Santa Clause and that guy by the pool!

Guest

Had a good feeling. He has the perfect HR derby swing. Easy, momentum based, effortless (doesn’t tire like the hard-swingers). He could hit HR’s all night long.

Graig not Craig

Here’s hoping Cano isn’t shot for the rest of the season. Should have sat out with the rest of the Yankee All Stars.

https://twitter.com/#!/TheRealJeromeS Jerome S.

Cano:

Better than Pedroia

Yeah, I said it

David N

Wait, I’m confused…I thought Pedroia was supposed to be the laser show, but those balls that Robbie was hitting…it just doesn’t make sense….

Simon

How fortunate we all are to watch a player of Cano’s caliber everyday! Congrats Robbie! It’s great to be a Yankee fan!

papi is such a joke…being a dikfer all season and then he comes to this and embarrasses himself. and he only hits.

Avi

I feel like there should be a home run derby every week. Once a year isn’t enough. Imagine a home run derby in January – It would be Awesome.

Greg

There used to be one. Remember the tv show back in the sixties that airs on ESPN Classic.

Cuso

i remember that. it was black/white and the stands were empty and there was just two batters, a pitcher & a single broadcaster.

it was weird, but kinda funny too

MikeD

I’d go for a HR derby in January. I’ll go for anything that introduces some small baseball element in the long, dark Winter days.

Foghorn Leghorn

It has to just kill sox fans to see how humble and collected guys like Jeter and Cano are. These guys obviously come from very good families and are very grounded.

mbonzo

Agon wasn’t? Guy put on a “laser show” and was super classy when he lost.

Foghorn Leghorn

picture papi or pedroia up there…

Betty Lizard

I really enjoyed seeing Adrian Gonzalez tonight– What a talent, and he competed with heart and with grace. That’s part of the charm of the Home Run Derby and the All Star game– Watching players being fans, and seeing all the kids, and seeing players enjoying the game and having fun outside the rigid roles and rivalries.

Cuso

Now talk radio will belittle his win because he “got” to have his Das pitch & A-Gon got “stuck” with Manny Acta.

mbonzo

People on over the monster think Agon has a far better swing than Cano. (Some also think Pedroia is a better 2nd baseman, we’ll ignore the “laser show”)

I gotta say, Agon has had a better career, but Cano gets extra points for fielding and has the better swing. When you hear scouts say they haven’t seen anything like it since Willie Mays, and he puts up the numbers to show it, you know theres something special. Agon will be a player to remember this decade, but Cano will be remembered much longer. Just a much simpler swing that he can replicate 99% of the time. Best swing in baseball right now, I just hope he ends up doing what he’s capable of.

MikeD

Gonzalez is not a True Red Sox. He has yet to earn his sox, although by choking against Cano, he’s almost there.

Joe

What a derby, definitely the best I’ve seen. It had everything: Latino vs. US players, American vs National League, Yanks vs Redsox final, in improbable record breaking finish, the underdog second baseman, a father pitching to his son only smiling after he hit the winning homer. What a sporting event. Truly some of the most exciting baseball I’ve seen this year…